This invention relates generally to towel dispensers and more particularly to “hands free” towel dispensers.
Towel dispensers are well known and generally include a housing configured to receive a roll of toweling, a guide system that defines a path for the toweling, and a motor for moving the toweling along the path to the exterior of the housing. The guide system can include rollers or fixed guides and typically includes a driven roller connected to the motor. A switch or sensor for detecting motion or proximity of an object is provided to initiate the operation of the motor. For example, in a known dispenser, a controller is electrically connected to the sensor and is configured to activate the motor when the sensor generates a signal that indicates the presence of a hand. Conventional towel dispensers are configured to dispense towels from continuous rolls of non-perforated toweling and include a device for cutting the toweling to dispense individual towels. The length of the individual towels provided by the dispenser is determined by the amount of time that the motor is operated or by measuring the individual towel as it is dispensed.
Conventional toweling dispensers operate as follows. A roll of toweling is placed within the housing and threaded through the guide system. A user causes a towel to be dispensed by placing a hand or other object near the sensor. Alternatively, the dispensing of toweling can be initiated by pressing a button or switch that is configured to activate the motor. Dispensing of the toweling can be stopped when the hand is removed or when a predetermined length of toweling has been dispensed.
One problem associated with conventional toweling dispensers is that they are not configured to accommodate typical pre-perforated toweling such as that used typical households. Another problem with conventional dispensers is that they can be difficult to load and thread the toweling along the path defined by the guide system.